


I've Never Been to Africa

by TheRepeat



Category: Halo (Video Games) & Related Fandoms
Genre: Gen, Internal Monologue, No Dialogue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-13
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-20 20:14:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 388
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30010347
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheRepeat/pseuds/TheRepeat
Summary: And if I squeeze my eyes shut, I can pretend this isn’t home.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 3





	I've Never Been to Africa

Corporal to my left is a Martian. He’s more stone-faced than most; probably saw some combat in the outskirts already, judging by the crimson singes of plasma along his jaw. I’m trying to imagine what’s going through his brain. My gut goes, “the same way I usually feel,” but no, it’s not the same.

When it’s Arcadia, or Meridia, or even Reach, the thought is that it’s _out there._ I was born and raised on Earth. Been most everywhere in the Sol system, yeah, and even a handful of inner colonies—and I was there on Reach, when it happened. _Out there._ Away. Not here, not home.

So for a while I figured this Martian next to me felt like I did back on Reach—a twist in your gut, but with a glint of hope knowing that this isn’t _your_ home. It’s someone else’s.

But I know this isn’t the same. Mars is just a stone’s throw away for the bastards, and as soon as they’re done carving up New Mombasa, this corporal’s home is the next one to be glassed.

Glance around the Pelican, and I hardly know any of these people. Stragglers from other units diced by the fights in the streets. Maybe they’re Earthlings like me. One’s young enough that you can see the terror in his eyes—yeah, he’s definitely from here. Couple more look like they’re gonna throw up.

My eyes are drooping. Unit got whisked here from the opposite hemisphere the instant the first carrier blew past the MACs, and the time difference is killing me. The air here’s dry and foliage is rare. This is nothing like what I know.

I’ve never been to Africa. And if I squeeze my eyes shut, I can pretend this isn’t home. Just like on Reach, just like this Martian next to me, I can think, “they haven’t made it home just yet. They’re still _out there._ ”

But I can’t ignore that “out there” gets closer every time I say it.

The Pelican’s descending, low enough that we can hear plasma fire. Sounds like a Wraith, too. I chamber a round into my BR55 and squeeze my eyes shut.

It isn’t home, not just yet. We’re _out there,_ in an alien metropolis I’ve never seen before.

Maybe I can still do something about it.

**Author's Note:**

> New personal records for:  
> \- shortest word count (by a very wide margin)  
> \- shortest time between conceiving a story and finishing & uploading it (about an hour)


End file.
